LDS Senate Minority Leader takes on polygamy

CARSON CITY, Nev. -- The U.S. Senate's top Democrat called Tuesday fora federal investigation into the activities of polygamists in Westernstates.

Minority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said in a letter to U.S. AttorneyGeneral Alberto Gonzales that a task force should be formed to lookinto interstate activities of polygamists. He also asked the JusticeDepartment to help state prosecutors dealing with polygamist sectleader Warren Jeffs.

"For too long, this outrageous activity has been disguised in the maskof religious freedom," Reid said. "But child abuse and human servitudehave nothing to do with religious freedom and must not be tolerated."

Reid, a Mormon, added that Jeffs is part of a sect that broke awayfrom the Mormon Church more than a century ago and has been disavowedby leaders and mainstream members of the Church of Jesus Christ ofLatter-day Saints.

A reporter's call to the Justice Department's after-hours commandcenter was transferred to the department's press office, where therewas no answer.

Jeffs, 50, is charged with two felony counts of rape as an accomplice,accused of arranging a "spiritual marriage" between an underage girland an older man. Each count carries a penalty of five years to lifein prison.

The leader of the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter DaySaints was arrested Aug. 28 by the Nevada Highway Patrol during atraffic stop and is being held without bail. He had been on the runfor about a year-and-a-half when he was arrested.

Besides the Utah charges, Jeffs is facing two felony charges in MohaveCounty, Ariz., for a similarly arranged marriage involving an underagegirl. He is expected to be prosecuted there after Utah proceedingshave concluded.

Polygamist communities have tended to gather in remote areas of theWest, where they can avoid the attention of authorities and largersociety more easily. Plural marriage is illegal in all 50 states, butauthorities have found it difficult to find witnesses who will comeforward and enable them to prosecute.(c) 2006 The Associated Press